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_________________If at first you don't succeed, pay someone that knows what they're doing.

forthosewhotoil76

Post subject: Re: New sharpening stone purchase

Posted: Mon May 13, 2013 9:38 pm

Joined: Fri Aug 03, 2012 10:01 pmPosts: 225

Gotta admit, it does bring some "cool" factor and satisfaction knowing you possess an ancient skill-set that the majority of people you'll pass walking down the street, don't have.

Adam Marr

Post subject: Re: New sharpening stone purchase

Posted: Tue May 14, 2013 1:13 pm

Forum Moderator

Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2012 7:36 pmPosts: 3083

Yeah, it is fun to be able to sharpen a knife really well.

Fun story time:

A buddy and I were once at an outdoor show....boats, campers, tents...all sorts of outdoorsy type stuff. One of the stands was this guy who would sharpen your pocket knife for you with his "gadget". It was a gadget kind of like the Lansky sharpener...don't recall the name any more. Guy was saying that if you had a pocket knife he'd sharpen it for you for free. If he couldn't make it sharper, he'd give you the gadget for free.

We walked up, I asked a few question.....he noticed the clip of my Spyderco in my pocket.....a ZDP189 Delica that, sadly for him, had just been sharpened and I knew it had. He said, hand me that knife and I'll sharpen it for you. I refused, said you ain't touching my knife with that thing. I could tell I irritated the man. Finally, I handed the knife over for inspection. Without a word, he reached behind him and offered a free gadget. I refused, said I don't need it to which he replied "No shit!".

We chatted for a few minutes, was a really nice guy....and knew of waterstones and their use. He was selling to a different crowd, but he knew his sharpening really well....which I respected.

Mark Richmond posted this question on my behalf. Just wanted to say thanks to all those who responded. I did go with the 5 pc. sharpening set and a sink bridge.

ken123

Post subject: Re: New sharpening stone purchase

Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 7:52 am

Forum Moderator

Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2012 4:45 amPosts: 1673

Adam,

I really like your post! As you demonstrated SO well using your Nubatama 1k Ume speckled stone in your video, it really is art to fully extract the performance a stone can deliver. I really feel that mastering - and remastering - stones in the 1k range is so crucial to developing technique to a high level. It is the boundary between shaping the geometry of the edge and beginning to refine it. If this isn't done to a high level of perfection, the rest is window dressing. Getting a very refined edge is hard to do because if ALL the steps - every stroke - aren't excellent, from all the preceding coarser stones, the further refinement is only a marginal improvement or even a setback. For this reason, I hesitate to recommend 1/6 combo stones, as beginners rush through the 1k process and think that the 6k will bail them out, leading to bad habits for their future growth as a sharpener.

Also for this reason, it is very hard to discuss performance comparisons with stropping compounds. Some comment that using a strop with 0.1 micron compound doesn't improve their edge. Well if the edge is poorly defined, then they will be most certainly correct. And yes some will get improvement from a poorly defined edge with a 0.1 micron strop, but it is nowhere close to what it could be if the preceding groundwork is of a very high skill level.

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